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Chapter 5: Things go thump in the dark
Thump!
Whatever was behind the door, and between us and the main computer, really wanted in.
Thump! Thump! The black goo that had once been part of the fungal lifeform of the Andromeda Syndicate, replied to the thing on the other side of the door.
“What the hell?” whispered T.
“The first two habitats were destroyed but the third one has an atmosphere. I’m going in to look,” the cheerful voice of S burst through the radio earpieces and made us both jump.
The glass, or more likely transparent aluminium, cracked under the onslaught of the goo.
“We need to get out of here,” I said. I could feel the malice coming off of the tank.
We headed back to the elevator as the thumping continued. Instead of activating it, T ran to a console on the other side of the room.
Thump, Crack! The door bent inward and somehow still held.
“We need to get out of hare,” I repeated.
T nodded and said, “We need to contain whatever is happening here. I don’t want that goo dripping down on our heads.
He was right and I looked around for anything that would help us. Fire, I thought and my hands moved on their own. I felt heat coursing through my body but before it could release, there was a searing pain in my head.
Thump,Thump,Thump! I couldn’t tell if the sound was my own heartbeat, my brain trying to escape from my ears, or whatever monster was behind that door.
“M! Get up. Please,” barked T. He sounded scared.
I slowly stood up and he placed a gun in my hands. It was an AS plasma rifle that shot a ball of superheated gas. It was a nasty weapon that could sear a hole straight through most armour.
“I’m okay,” I said and took the safety off the weapon.
“You have blood coming out of your nose,” he replied. “I need a few minutes at the terminal. Hold whatever comes out of that glass or door back as long as you can.”
I took a deep breath and took a shooting stance. These weapons didn’t have much kick but they still had enough to land me on my butt if I wasn’t careful. I must have used these weapons before because I was inundated with information about them.
His hands moved faster than I could register. I didn’t know what he was doing but just as the door slammed open, I saw him bleeding from his nose and ears.
The last thump was cut off by a victorious yowl and metallic crunch as the door broke open.
Whatever the creatures had been, they were now covered in black sludge. Most likely the same black goo from the tank. They were roughly the size of and shape of grizzly bears but with an elongated head and far too many black teeth. Their flesh rippled, sending shivers of nausea throughout my body.
I shot at the creatures but they barely seemed to notice. The plasma dissipated on their bodies and seemed to do nothing but slow them down a little.
T whooped and the roof started retracting. Despite the shielding, the sun was blindingly hot. Joining me on the elevator, T activated it and said, “Don’t look at the sun.”
We descended and an iris closed above us. I heard a loud crash, a whooshing sound and then nothing. “What did you do?” I asked.
“I vented the top level,” T replied.
“That was quick thinking,” I said before adding, “I thought you said you couldn’t read anything?”
He turned white and his eyes went large. “I can’t, I couldn’t, I…” he trailed off. “Once I was there I just knew what to press. Like the computer was telling me. Wow. I wish I understood why.”
“Me too,” I said sadly. I really wanted to understand. Not knowing frustrated me in a way that made my whole body ache. “Do you think there’s another computer we can access that will tell us if we can fly this thing away from the sun?”
He shrugged. We arrived on the next floor, and he walked over to a wall and pushed on it. It released a hidden door. Inside was a wall filled with blinking lights. T touched the wall and said, “The station doesn’t have the energy to escape the sun’s gravity. The whole station is on energy saving mode. I—” He fell to the ground and started to convulse.
I hesitated, not knowing what to do. When I finally decided to act, he stopped moving. A loud popping noise followed by a gush of blood from the back of his neck startled me. Something metallic lay on the ground a few metres from him and I crushed it for good measure.
The room was filled with people but I couldn’t see anything like a first aid kit anywhere. I leaned down to T and gently touched his neck. I felt a pull of energy in the back of my mind and I focused on healing him. A blueish light glowed around my fingers and into the wound. I watched as it closed and the skin knit itself back together.
Pain filled my body and instead of fighting it, I let it wash over me. I focused on the cold metal floor and breathing. The pain eventually passed and I checked T for a pulse.
Into the earpiece, I said, “T is hurt but alive. He figured out the ship is low on energy and that the engines are okay. He’s unconscious right now and I don’t want to move him. Can we meet at the second to last level?”
“On our way,” said W. She sounded frustrated.
“I’ll be right there,” S said in her usual chipper voice. “You’ll never guess what I found.”
Read Chapter 6 (June 2026)
While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:
- 2025 – Scarlet Thread Irregulars (Urban Fantasy)
- 2024 – Red Day, Ere the Sun Rises: A Sun Speaker Story (Space Opera)
- 2023 – The Suns of War (Sci-Fi, Epic)
- 2022 – Birth of the Aetherverse (Fantasy)
- 2021 – Diamond Stars and the Galactic Heist (Sci-Fi, Heist, Romance)
- 2020 – Point Zero (Superhero, Sci-Fi)
- 2019 – Seren Plentyn and the Secret of Hokulua Station (Sci-Fi Adventure Mystery)
